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CIA makes 12 million declassified pages available online

The CIA has made about 930,000 declassified documents, totaling some 12 million pages, available online. The treasure trove of documents is likely to lead to new insights into history and CIA activities.

The CIA on Tuesday made publically available an online search tool of its massive declassified document database.

The range of documents covers a period from the 1940s to 1990s, including the Cold War, Korean War and Vietnam. A search of the database reveals nearly 73,000 references to Germany alone.

None of the documents are newly declassified, but the online database now makes the millions of pages widely available to the public. Previously, the database was only accessible at the National Archives Records Administration located outside of Washington, DC.

"Access to this historically significant collection is no longer limited by geography. The American public can access these documents from the comfort of their homes," Joseph Lambert, the CIA Director of Information Management, said.

Under US law, agencies must review classified records older than 25 years to determine if they can be declassified. As a result, new documents are constantly being declassified.